Whereas sports activities dominated tv in 2023, a number of fan-favorite collection like Yellowstone, NCIS, and Younger Sheldon continued to attract in audiences, in response to Selection, which reviewed information from Nielsen to give you its checklist of 100 most-watched telecasts of final 12 months.
Regardless of a tumultuous 12 months that noticed twin Hollywood strikes carry productions to a halt, Variety’s checklist of prime 100 packages reveals a rise within the reputation of scripted tv. Out of 100 slots, scripted packages took 35, following dozens of sports activities packages resembling NFL and NBA video games.
NFL video games, specifically, dominated all however one of many prime 21 spots, with Tremendous Bowl LVII nabbing 115 million viewers, greater than double the subsequent program, the AFC Championship recreation. The one non-NFL program in that prime checklist was The Oscars, at 15.
Among the many scripted reveals, two long-running CBS collection, NCIS and Blue Bloods, every ranked excessive on Selection’s checklist. The collection had 4 episodes rank, as did FBI, Chicago Hearth, and Younger Sheldon. 60 Minutes episodes crammed seven slots, presumably given a lift from NFL followers sticking round after the video games. New collection Night time Courtroom on NBC, Fox’s Accused, and CBS’s Hearth Nation debuted on the checklist, which reveals reboots and revivals nonetheless ring a bell with audiences.
CBS leads the pack with essentially the most packages on Nielsen’s checklist. The community had 39 reveals listed, ten greater than in 2022. NBC ranked second with 24 titles, down two from the earlier 12 months, whereas ABC had 15. Prime Video, which made the checklist because of NFL streaming offers simulcasting video games, got here in fourth place with 11, Fox had 7, and ESPN had two.
Linear tv has steadily declined in viewership as extra folks lower the wire to cable TV and transfer to streaming providers. Whereas sports activities occasions are a serious draw that retains folks tethered to cable TV, streaming platforms like Prime Video’s NBA League Cross and ESPN+ provide followers an alternate strategy to watch video games and cut back subscriber churn.
Regardless of scripted TV’s sturdiness, sports activities takes the cake for the primary 21 spots on Selection’s checklist, adopted by Subsequent Degree Chef in twenty second place with 16.89 million views. Slots 23 by 35 are one other chunk of sports activities content material earlier than the Grammy Awards in thirty sixth place with 13.38 million views.
General, 56 slots on the most-watched primetime telecasts checklist went to sports activities. The NFL ranked 45 video games, with the primary spot taken by Tremendous Bowl LVII, with 115 million viewers tuning in to look at the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs beat the Philadelphia Eagles. The NBA Finals ranked in 6 spots, and the NCAA Basketball March Insanity secured three spots. Fox’s The OT, an NFL post-game present, and faculty soccer ranked in a single slot every.
